Kissed by an Angel
by Innocent Battousai
Summary: Kenshin and Tomoe are Angels, and they're charged to help Kaoru out on Earth. One problem: the two Angels know nothing about human life. Romance later! Slight comedy(hopefully)!
1. Default Chapter

--Hey Y'all! I've got another story here! (I posted one yesterday, but forgot to add in comments) Anyhoo, I hope you really like this one, and I thought it'd be appropriate for the holiday season. Enough talk! Read!

Two winged angels sat on a deserted cloud, floating high above the Earth. One angel had snow white wings, and she had on a simple white dress, accenting her ebony hair and dark eyes that were filled with laughter. The other had large pale gray wings, long red hair tied back into a low ponytail, and violet eyes that always were cheery. He wore white slacks and a white shirt.

"Kenshin!" The black haired girl called, smile on her face as she dashed across the white cloud. "No fair using your wings! We're playing tag the way humans do! No wings!" Kenshin smirked and landed next to her, folding his wings behind him.

"Sorry Tomoe. I just can't resist it. I'll play fair now."

"Good. Well, get ready!" she said as she charged toward him, and he moved to the side, deciding to take it easy on her. They both knew he was faster than she was. Turning, she tried again, and missed. They continued this sort of thing until Tomoe realized this wasn't going anywhere. In a move that caught Kenshin by surprise, she turned farther to where Kenshin was directly in font of her, and lunged at him. In a bear hug tackle, they fell onto the cloud together, Tomoe pinning him down. He was about to say some joking comment when Tomoe reached around to his back and began tickling the spots where his wings met his back, knowing that was his most ticklish spot. Any move to get Tomoe to stop tickling him was futile, as he was too overcome with laughter to move properly. All he could do was beg for mercy between laughs. Finally, Tomoe stopped and sat back, allowing Kenshin to breathe freely.

"You fall for that every time Kenshin!" she commented, and he glared playfully at her.

"No kidding. You think I'd have learned after 17 years of doing this." He looked thoughtfully at her, smiling. Without warning, he tackled her, then started poking her sides, making her laugh uncontrollably now.

"Now now, break it up you two!" called a female voice from behind, saving Tomoe from having to endure long amounts of tickling. They both looked up to see another angel with light red wings and auburn hair landing next to them, her green eyes glittering happily at their antics. She wore a form fitting white sleeveless robe tied high up her waist. "Do I need to separate you two?" she said in a mock scolding tone, unable to hold back a smile.

"What's up Kiki?" Why'd you come all the way out here?" Tomoe asked, wondering why the council sent her.

"You're both wanted up at the temple. Gensai-sensei sent me to bring you up there." Kiki said in her perky way.

"Well, then let's go." Kenshin said, opening his wings with the others. As one, they jumped up and beat the air with their wings. As they flew higher, Kenshin did loops, flips, and other stunts in the air. He loved to fly. Soon they came to a large marble palace where the council met. Kiki led them in through the double doors and down the hall to the right. They stopped at the second door on the left and Kiki entered first, bowing as she did so.

"Gensai-sensei, members of the council, I brought Kenshin and Tomoe." She motioned for them to come in. She went to stand next to the table the council sat at, waiting for new instructions.

"Well, I'm going to get right to it. We have an assignment for both of you." Gensai-sensei said, looking at Kenshin and Tomoe's curious expressions. "On Earth. A young girl prayed for our help, and we thought you two would be the best for the job. The cards, Kiki." He said as she pulled two cards out of her pocket and handed one to Tomoe ad the other to Kenshin. They said their names, a series of addresses, and lots of other information in small text that had been packed onto the card.

"Those have all the information you'll need on Earth. Everything from your name, to your school, to 'things you should never do while among humans'. Now, since this is your first assignment, I'm going to run over some ground rules and some things you should know. First, Humans don't like things out of their reality, so that means no flying, no magic and no speaking about Heaven in public. Second, the assignment deals with an emotionally distraught girl, so don't tease her much. Third…good luck to both of you. Kiki, lead them on please."

She motioned for Kenshin and Tomoe to follow her, and she walked across the room to another door and had them enter first. It was just a big empty square room, save a table, a funny looking rack with hooks on it, and white elevator-like doors opposite them.

"This is where we send Angels to Earth." Kiki explained. "All you do is leave your tags on one of the hooks there and get in the doors. Then I flip the switch and you go to your rightful places on Earth." She said all this in what undoubtedly ment to be an official tone, but there was a hint of sadness that neither Kenshin nor Tomoe missed.

"Hey, it's okay. We're friends. We'll be back" Tomoe tried to comfort the other girl. Kiki shook her head.

"No, you're down there 'til the people you're looking after die. Then you all come back. So it could easily be five years before you get back. They were all silent for a minute until Kenshin reached down and took his chain that was hanging around his neck off.

Angels are all given tags when they come into Heaven. They have their name and a code that is used only for the times when they have to go down to Earth. They have to leave their tags, then they get them back when they return. That was how it worked.

"Five years. Without being able to fly freely? This'll be harder than I thought." He commented. Kiki coughed awkwardly.

"Well, you ought to get down there." Kenshin and Tomoe both set their tags next to each other's on the rack where several others were as well. Kiki opened the door and gave them her best smile. "I'll see ya when I see ya!" With that, the door shut and all was dark.

Slowly, light came back around them. So did sound, but it wasn't the quiet of Heaven. It was a busy street with people coming and going and talking loudly just outside the narrow alley they were standing in. Along with their surroundings, their clothing had also changed.

Kenshin was now wearing blue jeans with a belt around the waist, and a red shirt that had a silver dragon on it. He also wore black boots and a jean jacket.

Tomoe was clad in navy boot cut jeans, white tennis shoes, and a baby blue sweatshirt that read 'Angel'.

"Convenient." She stated when she saw that. However, they noticed that they both had one thing in common: no wings. Kenshin, setting that aside, looked at his card again.

"Okay, it says that…first off we need to go to the park across the street, start walking down the middle fork…and that's it." Tomoe looked put out.

"How are we suppose to know what to do with such vague directions?"

"Dunno. But…well, let's just go and see what happens." Kenshin said, setting off out the alleyway and on to the street, Tomoe right behind him.

Being first-time humans, they didn't understand traffic laws. Kenshin dashed across the road, Tomoe tailing him always. They weaved around on coming cars, causing several car horns to be blown and foul language shouted.

"Man, people on Earth sure are rude." Tomoe commented quietly once they reached the other side. Sure enough, there was a park, with three different paths.

"Well, directions say to go the middle one, so let's go." Kenshin started walking and Tomoe continued to follow, not wanting to be separated form him in a new and strange and violent world.

"Where do we go after this though?" Tomoe murmured, glancing around at all the things and people around them.

"I haven't the foggiest. Perhaps to the house address here?" Kenshin pointed to the particular line on the card. Tomoe was about to reply when two loud voices cut through the air suddenly.

"No, baka rooster! I told you I don't want to deal with that!"

"C'mon Missy, don't do this again! Mom and Dad just want t-"

"NO! No no no no!" A young girl with long raven hair in a high pony tail was stalking down the path to them, looking very distressed. A guy with spiky brown hair was following her, looking both frustrated and deflated, his red bandana trailing behind him. Kenshin and Tomoe exchanged glances. Is this the girl that they're supposed to help? They both looked down at the cards again, just in case there was some bit of information they happened to miss. That's when something heavy and warm crashed into him at high speed. Before he knew it, he was flat on his back with the upset girl on top of him, picking herself up and off him. When she looked at him, she began apologizing to him repeatedly.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry mister, I didn't see you, it was completely my fault! I'm so very sorry. Are you okay?" she offered her hand to him, and he took it, pulling him up to his feet.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you miss." Kenshin smiled happily, trying his best to comfort the girl. The brown haired guy came jogging up to them, looking worried.

"Are you okay kid? Sorry about Missy here." He said and Kenshin blinked twice. That was the first time anyone called him 'kid'.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. Are you okay?" he asked the girl. She looked a bit surprised y his question.

"Oh, yeah, um, I'm okay." A small silence fell briefly as the guy looked consideringly at Kenshin and Tomoe. Finally he broke the silence.

"Hey, what's your name kid? I haven't seen you before. You two new?" A look of concern crossed both angels' faces, but it was gone before anyone noticed.

"You could say that. Himura. Kenshin Himura." He recited the name that he was given as his cover. "And this is Tomoe."

"Yukishiro Tomoe. Yes we're new to the area, and we…were…just looking around." Kenshin shot a grateful look at Tomoe for saving him the trouble of coming up with a believable story. She was much better at that than he was.

"Oh. Well, would you like me to show you around?" the blue eyed girl asked them. Deciding that it would be best to one: find out where everything was, and two: to see if this girl was indeed the one they were sent to help.

"Sure. Thank you." Kenshin said politely.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. That was rude of me! I'm Kamiya Kaoru."

"Sagara Sanosuke. Call me Sano. I'm her half brother. My brother Akira's not here today. I'll have to introduce you to him sometime."

"Anyway, shall we show you around?" Kaoru smiled and began walking down the path the way they came.

--Soooo! How was it?? I hope I don't sound like a broken record saying all this stuff, but I need to know what you think! Review Please!  
-Innocent Battousai


	2. 2

--Yay! People like my stuff! x And, you know what I realized? I forgot the disclaimer! Yipes! Well, no one kill me for it!  
Disclaimer: (I'll only say it once cuz my memory slips alot, so here you go) Anything that may possibly even have a copyright thinger attached to it is clearly not mine! Hokiday? Hokiday.  
There you go! I said it. Now, on with the main event! --

Through out the course of two hours, they showed the two angels the small town and where all the main places were. By request of Sano's growling stomach, they finally stopped at a burger joint that Sano and Kaoru both insisted had the best hamburgers they'd ever taste.

"Four please." Kaoru told the waitress that greeted them at the door. Smiling happily, she let them to a table in the corner, laying out menus on the wooden table. Kaoru squealed happily. "This is the best place to sit! Yay!" Kaoru slid in first followed by Sano then Kenshin and Tomoe last. Picking up their menus, they examined all the choices that were new to them. Carefully, Kenshin pulled his card out of his pocket and looked at it behind the menu to prevent suspicion. So far, they'd gotten all the information right. They were going to the same high school, they were indeed supposed to be seventeen, and they found the street that the place they were staying at was on.

"So, are you guys boy and girlfriend?" Sano asked, startling both of them slightly. Kaoru slapped him lightly on the arm in punishment as if he were an infant.

"Uh, no. We're just friends. That's all." Kenshin said, stuffing his card into his pocket again.

"That was a rude question Sano." Kaoru scolded. Sanosuke just grinned.

"Well, they didn't seem to mind."

"Would you like anything to drink?" The waitress asked, returning with coasters and silver wear.

"I'll have a Pepsi please." Kaoru said, folding the menu.

"Pepsi too." Sano said from somewhere behind the menu. Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"I'll have the same." Kenshin smiled pleasantly, determined not to show his uncertainty, trying to figure out what this 'Pepsi' stuff was.

"Um…I'll have…"Tomoe hesitated, and Kenshin nudged her with his foot. Taking that as a sign, she pulled herself together. "Ditto." The ever-smiling waitress jotted down their order then walked off.

"So, what do you think of our cute little town?" Kaoru asked.

"Um, it's a very nice place indeed. Thank you for showing us around." Kenshin grinned.

"We told you we're going to school with you two right?" Tomoe questioned, not wanting to miss any detail. Kaoru nodded.

"Yeah. We'll show you around when you get there. Meet us by the big oak tree out in front."

"Akira'll be there too. So you can meet him too." Sano smirked.

"Alright." Tomoe said just as the waitress walked up holding a tray with four cups of a dark liquid.

"Four Pepsis." She said, setting one in front of each of them. "Would you like to order now?" the waitress asked, looking pointedly at Tomoe.

"Um, Can I have the 'Garden Burger' please?" she said and the waitress scribbled the order down, looking next at Kenshin.

"The…'Banzai Burger please."

"Double Bacon Cheeseburger." Was Sano's order.

"Just a traditional burger please." With that, the waitress moved away. Kenshin and Tomoe turned their attention to the Pepsis. Kaoru and Sano were already drinking theirs –Well, Kaoru drinking and Sano chugging-. The two angels took an experimental sip.

"Yum! This is really good!" Tomoe said happily, then realized her mistake.

"Well, what'd you think you were going to get?" Kaoru giggled.

"Um, well… it's…just…. that, s-sometimes the drinks are so watered down, they are flavorless." Tomoe recovered shakily. Kaoru looked questioningly at them, then, much to their relief, shrugged it off.

The rest of the evening proceeded in much the same fashion. Someone slipping then having to scramble and find a reasonable excuse to cover it. When the meal that seemed to last an eternity was over, Kenshin and Tomoe found the house they were suppose to be staying at, with the aid of the cards (which were their Holy Grail). They explored the charming one-story, and found it already furnished, stocked with food, and an envelope of money for them sitting on the counter.

"It must have taken a HUGE amount of magic to pull this off!" Kenshin exclaimed, walking into what he had claimed as his room.

"Oh yeah! An amount beyond anything I've ever seen!" Tomoe's voice came from somewhere in the hall. Kenshin flopped down on the bed, laying on his stomach.

"I'm surprised I lived through the day." He said as Tomoe entered the room. "A couple times I thought we were done for."

"Well, we were definitely lucky." Tomoe said, walking to the bedside. Because Kenshin was turned away from Tomoe, he didn't see her mischievous smirk as she hopped on the bed, sitting on his lower back with her legs hanging off either side of the twin bed.

"Tomoe…? What're you doing?" he asked curiously.

"Tell me Kenshin, are you still ticklish here?" she teased while running a finger experimentally over his shoulder blades. Tomoe was rewarded with a startled cry from Kenshin.

And so, as they ad done for seventeen years now, Tomoe and Kenshin laughed together…for different reasons of course. Tomoe was laughing at Kenshin's useless efforts to get up and away, and Kenshin was the helpless tickle victim. About twenty seconds later, there was a great rush of wind that neither expected as two large soft gray wings popped from Kenshin's back, and Tomoe, startled, backed up as her white wings made their appearance to shield her instinctively. Kenshin sat up, looking at her first, then at his wings that had reappeared.

"My wings…" he said, feeling them to be sure he wasn't imagining things. "They're back." Kenshin gave a small smile, which soon spread into an infectious grin. Kenshin looked at Tomoe who was feeling her wings in a similar fashion.

"But how? Why now?" she asked looking at him questioningly. Silence fell between the two angels briefly before Kenshin spoke.

"I wonder if it has to do with the face that we…our instincts took over kinda thing, you know."

"Yes," Tomoe said quietly, nodding. "That makes sense because I was startled and defenseless, and you wanted to get away."

"And I wanted you to stop," He mumbled quietly "So, I guess as long as we don't do anything to trigger and adrenaline rush of any kind, we can prevent anyone from finding us out. Cool."

"Why do I have a feeling it's a whole lot more complicated than that?" Tomoe asked no one in particular.

"…I don't know, but I hope it's not true. Other wise, there could be some sticky situations coming up."

"Yeah." Tomoe closed her eyes, took a deep breath and her wings withdrew into her back.

"Too bad we can't fly. I really want to." Kenshin sighed and pulled his wings back in too.

"I know. I do too…maybe we can find an open field in the middle of no where and fly there."

"That's a good idea." Kenshin perked up a bit. "I'll ask Kaoru sometime if she knows anywhere good."

"Oh, speaking of them, our schedules are here too. I found yours." She handed Kenshin a piece of paper with a list of five periods.

"What's yours look like?" Tomoe pulled hers out and they held them side by side.

"I've got… first with you...fitness. Nice. I always love that." Tomoe groaned sarcastically.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep then. The school's suppose to start tomorrow." Kenshin grinned. Tomoe smiled too, and walked to the door.

"Night Kenshin." She said just before she walked down the hall to her room.  
"See ya Tomoe!" Kenshin called after her, jumping into the bed. He turned off the light on the nightstand by the bed and laid there. After a moment he smirked and sat up. Kenshin concentrated, eyes closed and his wings sprouted from his back again. He stretched them to their full length (which was about fifteen feet), and they almost touched both sides of the small room. Kenshin sighed. Reluctantly, he pulled his wings back inside and took off his shirt. The moonlight filtering through the window revealed two large rips at the back. Kenshin tossed the ripped shirt in the general direction of his dresser, and plopped flat back on the bed. He was silent for a minute, contemplating all the events of the day, and what was coming up at them. "Perhaps things are a lot more complicated than I first thought."

--We-e-ell, there's chapter two! Yay! I hope y'all like it!  
Answers to my fans: Thank you all!!!!!! x You gave me hope!  
Wistful Eyes: 'Tomoe-hating'? Oh no no no no! We like Tomoe! Tomoe is a nice person! x  
Alex: Bingo! x  
half-breed-demon-fox: Yep! A&T K&K all the way baby!  
Please tell me if I'l living up to your standards! Review Please! smacks the broken record


	3. 3

--AAAAAAAAA!!! runs screaming around the room I'm soooooooooo sorry! I've been meaning to update for a while, but school got started again, and I'm having issues adjusting out of vacation mood! Please don't kill me! Here's another chappie!!--

"Where are they?" Asked an impatient Sanosuke the next morning. His older brother Akira stood next to him, rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, Sano, we've got about fifteen minutes till school starts." Kaoru said, looking around. She caught sight of a classmate staring at her from across the lot. When she made eye contact with him, he looked away, as if he was never spying. Now it was Kaoru's turn to roll her eyes. Sano caught the eye roll.

"What is it? Is it that perverted stalker again?!" Sano said angrily. Kaoru was about to answer when she spotted Kenshin and Tomoe walking up to them.

"Hey!" Kenshin said happily when they joined the siblings at the tree.

"What took you so long?" Sanosuke asked, intending to sound irritated but he couldn't help smirking.

"Sorry, we took a wrong turn and got lost." Tomoe said hurriedly, sounding like that wasn't the real reason. Kaoru looked at the two quizzically, then blinked, suddenly remembering her manners.

"Oh! Kenshin, Tomoe, this is Akira. He's Sano's older brother." She said, pointing to the dark haired dark eyed guy next to her. "Akira, this is Kenshin and Tomoe. They're new to the town, so I thought we'd show them around."

"Okay. What's your schedules?" Akira asked, getting down to business. Kenshin took his paper out of his pocket, and Tomoe unfolded hers.

"I've got Fitness, English on 'A' days, Drawing on 'B' days, and third and fourth Release." Kenshin recited from his slip of paper. Kaoru blinked.

"That's the same as my schedule!" she cried, peering at his paper to make sure it was true. "Wow…Tomoe, what do you have?"

"Fitness, Calculus, Release, Release."

"That's the same as mine." Akira stated, looking thoughtful.

"Crazy! Sano said disbelievingly. A series of loud and annoying beeps sounded and the three flinched. "Ten minutes. Better hurry," Kaoru began to walk to the doors, but stopped. "Wait! Kenshin, Go with Sanosuke and Akira. I don't know where the guy's locker rooms are. Tomoe, follow me." Like a commando, Kaoru directed everyone around with authority, and, ten minutes later, they were all standing around in the gym, clad in gym shorts, tennis shoes, and old T-shirts.

"I wonder what we're gonna do today? With any luck we'll be doing something easy instead of something like the mile." Kaoru said, searching the gym for something.

"Surprise!" cried a girl about Kaoru's age as she jumped on her back, dark braid swaying.

"Misao, get offa me!" Kaoru commanded, and Misao obeyed.

"Sorry. Who're the new faces?"

"I'm Himura Kenshin."

"Yukishiro Tomoe."

"Nice to meet ya!" Misao was cut short by the shout of the teachers. "Roll call." She groaned. All the students plodded over to the yelling teachers, calling out when their names were read. When that was finally done, the students waited to hear what torture they had to endure today.

"Today, you'll be playing Dodgeball." Shouted one teacher, receiving cheers from all the kids.

"Wow! The teachers are being nice!" Kaoru said with mock surprise.

"Nooo! Lock all the doors and windows! Apocalypse! Apocalypse! Head for the hills!" Misao cried, running around in circles in an overly dramatic manner.

"Makimachi! Team two!" a teacher shouted, and Misao stopped immediately and walked over reluctantly. Next a teacher screamed at Akira. "Team One!" And that was much the fashion that continued until everyone was on one side or the other. Misao and Kenshin were on team two, and everyone else in their circle of friends, including her idol, Shinomori Aoshi., were on team one.

"Oh shoot!" Misao cried suddenly as she surveyed the opposition. "Sanosuke's against us!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Kenshin asked and Misao looked at him like he was insane.

"Only a lot! Sano throws really hard and fast. It's pretty much forfeit to face him."

"I see. He doesn't take it easy on friends?"

"Not usually. He just gets in that mind set and he gets scary. Sano's come awfully close to breaking the wall several times." Just then, the teacher blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game. There was a mad dash of students to the middle line, where all the balls were located. So, the mad frenzy of Nerf balls flying back and forth began. And Sanosuke did indeed live up to Misao's story. Within about five minutes, everyone was out…except Kenshin.

"Himura! Get over here right now! Just sit this one out if you don't want to be in pain till next Christmas!" Misao shouted over to him from the wall with everyone else who was out.

"Nah. Don't worry Kenshin. I won't go too hard on you." Sano smirked. Kenshin shrugged, and Sano, taking that as a signal, threw a large Nerf ball at him. Kenshin easily dodged to the left, and Sano threw another one. Again, Kenshin dodged. For about another five minutes this continued. At first Sano had been hoping to tire Kenshin out by making him run all over, but when Kenshin wasn't slowing, let alone getting tired, Sanosuke began going all out.

"Hope you're ready buddy." Was all he said before he bombarded Kenshin with fast balls. Had they connected, the poor unfortunate victim would have more than a few broken ribs. Kenshin was a bit surprised at the speed of the throws, but managed to stay ahead of them. The kids on the sidelines were speechless as several missed shots crashed against the walls, leaving large craters. There was one that forced Kenshin to jump up, which that in itself was impressive enough (considering the face that he was about twenty feet off the ground). Sanosuke recovered from his momentary shock and decided to use that to his advantage. He threw a small ball at Kenshin as hard as he could, realizing he couldn't hold back if he wanted to beat him. At first it seemed as if Sano's plan had worked as a loud 'thump' sound echoed around the walls of the gym. But to everyone's amazement, the ball was clutched firmly in Kenshin's left hand. Like lightning, Kenshin spun in mid air and shoved the ball like one would thrust a sword forward.

"No way-" was all Sanosuke was able to get out before the ball impacted with the force of a wreaking ball. Luckily Sano was a tough guy and the most he got was the wind knocked out of him from a blow to the chest. Kenshin landed lightly next to him and held out a hand to Sano, who took it reluctantly.

"Boy, never would have thought you'd be so tough. You're so skinny and all." Sano commented.

"You did well to. It takes a lot to still be standing after a hit that hard." Kenshin smiled.

"HEY! You two, sit out!" shouted a teacher who was pointing at them. Kenshin gulped and Sanosuke huffed. "Now! I don't want any more damage!"

For the rest of the hour and a half class period, Kenshin and Sano sat on the bleachers and just chatted while the never-ending Dodgeball game continued. Without the key player, neither team could defeat their opponents.

"That's pretty sad. They can't get anywhere. Except Missy and Weasel." A Nerf ball was thrown at Sanosuke as he said that from a not very happy Misao shouting something about not calling her a weasel.

"Speaking of Kaoru," Kenshin said, seizing the opportunity to do a little digging. "Why was Kaoru looking distressed this morning?" Sanosuke looked at Kenshin surprisedly.

"You saw? How?"

"I've been told my eyesight's above normal?" Kenshin covered desperately. Unfortunately, Sano saw through it.

"You expect me to believe that? What's the real reason? You can't expect me to believe that you've got eyesight that would make a hawk blind in comparison."

"But…um…" Kenshin was at a loss for words. Good thing he didn't say anything about the fact that he heard what they were talking about too.

"Kenshin!" Called Tomoe's voice, causing both boys to look in her direction. "The teacher wants you!" she shouted, pointing over atone of the teachers. Kenshin mentally breathed a sigh of relief and shot an apologetic look at Sano, hoping to not raise too much suspicion. He walked over to the teacher, who seemed to be engrossed in something on his clipboard that he didn't notice Kenshin's approach.

"Excuse me, sir?" Kenshin asked politely and the teacher looked at him. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. About that jump you did earlier," he hesitated.

"Yes?" Kenshin said nervously, fearing the worst.

"I was wondering if you'd consider joining track." Kenshin resisted the temptation to fall Anime style, sweat-dropping at the real reason. "I think you'd be really good at it, if you continue to perform like you did here." He said, handing a packet to Kenshin. "Tryouts aren't for a while, so don't get too excited."

"Thank you Sir." Kenshin said just as the bell rang. He made a quick exit through the doors to the locker room and changed faster than he ever thought he could. All to avoid another confrontation with Sano. He found Kaoru waiting for him outside the door (which was surprising because it's suppose to be the girls who take longer).

"Ready to go Kenshin?" She said cheerily. He nodded, smiling. Thankful to distance himself from Sanosuke. Best to let him cool down a bit before they talk next.

Kaoru led him off to English, being an 'A' day, which passed without any mishaps. In Kenshin's opinion, he screwed up enough today that it'd be a miracle if Sano didn't just try to beat the truth out of him.

The rest of the week proceeded in a similar pattern, Sano seemed to have given up probing Kenshin for answers, while Kaoru and Kenshin had become really good friends. Tomoe had formed a strong bond with Sano and Akira, after finding out they had a lot in common. Also, they met Megumi, who was Sanosuke's girlfriend, Aoshi, who Misao wants to marry and is friends with Sano, and Yahiko, a freshman who looks up to Sanosuke.

Before the two angels knew it, Thursday arrived, making it almost Friday! And the day was almost done for them at second period classes. While Tomoe was hanging out with Akira in Calculus, Kenshin and Kaoru were in drawing class, working on their latest project.

"Why'd she have to give us an imaginary assignment? I can't do imaginary stuff real well. I'm much better at sketching things." Grumbled a girl at the desk next to Kaoru.

"It's not all that bad. I rather enjoy it." Kenshin said absently, pencil scraping across the paper rapidly.

"Can I see what you're doing?" Kaoru asked, trying to peek over the raised desks at his paper.

"Only if you show me yours too." He teased. Kenshin picked up his sheet and held it up for Kaoru to see.

"Wow! That's really good! Are those Angels?" Kaoru asked, pointing to two winged figures among the clouds. Kenshin nodded, and Kaoru went back to looking in awe at the Black and white charcoal drawing. "They look so real. Where did you learn to draw such realistic wings?"

"I use to see them every day."

"Really? Where?"

"Oh, um, where we use to live I'd sketch birds. Don't know why but I liked to." Kenshin laughed awkwardly as Kaoru raised a curios eyebrow at him. Then she just shrugged.

"Mine's just a sketch of an Elvin landscape." She said, lifting hers up for him.

"That's really beautiful. You really have a talent for drawing Kaoru." Kenshin smiled.

"Really?" Kaoru asked quietly, blushing.

"Yeah. It looks fantastic! Honestly."

"Thanks Kenshin." Kaoru said, happiness filling her voice. And something about the way she said his name made him feel…warm. Happy. A rush. Something that was foreign to him, but he liked it none the less.

After school, Kenshin and Kaoru joined everyone else by the big oak tree, which had become their standard meeting place.

"Hey there. What do you two have planned this afternoon?" Sano asked the two when they got there, fish bone sticking out of his mouth.

"No, why?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, me, Akira and Tomoe were thinking about a hike in the forest. It's a perfect day for one, and we're all finished with our homework, so we decided to hit the trails for a couple hours." He explained, then added with a mutter "Plus it'd be good to do that before the winter weather sets in too much." Kaoru nodded.

"Okay, so that leaves me and Kenshin. Huh. Well, are you open this afternoon Kenshin?"

"Yes. I have no schedule at all."

"Cool. When are you leaving on the hike?" Kaoru asked Sanosuke.

"'Bout four."

"M'kay. Would you like to come over to our house around four Kenshin?" Kaoru asked sweetly.

"Sure. Why not?" Kenshin grinned, unable to contain the new emotions.

"Well, let's get back to the house and get ready!" Sano cheered, waving to them as he walked off, Kaoru and Akira following behind. Kenshin and Tomoe looked at each other then began trekking down the sidewalk back to the house.

"So, you're going hiking today." Kenshin commented. Tomoe nodded, looking very happy.

"Yes, I really can't wait."

"But you've never even gone hiking."

"I know, but it sounds fun, and plus I need to create some 'human' hobbies as a cover."

"Good point."

They arrived at the house a few minutes later, very excited for their upcoming afternoon fun. Kenshin set his backpack in is room, and they both changed out of their uniforms into more suitable clothes. Tomoe had on boots and a jacket with scarf, ready to go tromp around the forest, while Kenshin just dressed casual with a light jacket. By the time they finished getting ready, it was ten to four.

"Hey, we need to go!" Kenshin said, heading to the front door, then hesitated, turning to Tomoe. "Do you have their address? 'Cause I sure don't"

"Yes. Akira gave it to me, so don't worry." Tomoe took a slip of paper out of her pocket, heading out the door. Kenshin followed her out, and they began walking to the address written down, and he couldn't help but feel as if this wouldn't be any ordinary time.

--Well, was that good? Am I continuing to please? There was quite a bit of fluffyness in here...not sure if that's a good thing or not...don't wanna disapoint all my great reviewers! -x (I'd respond to all your reviews right now, but Mom's pressing me for time, so I'll have to do that later! Sorry!) well, I'll try to update real soon again! In the meantime, please gimme feedback! .; --


	4. 4

Two winged angels sat on a deserted cloud, floating high above the Earth. One angel had snow white wings, and she had on a simple white dress, accenting her ebony hair and dark eyes that were filled with laughter. The other had large pale gray wings, long red hair tied back into a low ponytail, and violet eyes that always were cheery. He wore white slacks and a white shirt.

"Kenshin!" The black haired girl called, smile on her face as she dashed across the white cloud. "No fair using your wings! We're playing tag the way humans do! No wings!" Kenshin smirked and landed next to her, folding his wings behind him.

"Sorry Tomoe. I just can't resist it. I'll play fair now."

"Good. Well, get ready!" she said as she charged toward him, and he moved to the side, deciding to take it easy on her. They both knew he was faster than she was. Turning, she tried again, and missed. They continued this sort of thing until Tomoe realized this wasn't going anywhere. In a move that caught Kenshin by surprise, she turned farther to where Kenshin was directly in font of her, and lunged at him. In a bear hug tackle, they fell onto the cloud together, Tomoe pinning him down. He was about to say some joking comment when Tomoe reached around to his back and began tickling the spots where his wings met his back, knowing that was his most ticklish spot. Any move to get Tomoe to stop tickling him was futile, as he was too overcome with laughter to move properly. All he could do was beg for mercy between laughs. Finally, Tomoe stopped and sat back, allowing Kenshin to breathe freely.

"You fall for that every time Kenshin!" she commented, and he glared playfully at her.

"No kidding. You think I'd have learned after 17 years of doing this." He looked thoughtfully at her, smiling. Without warning, he tackled her, then started poking her sides, making her laugh uncontrollably now.

"Now now, break it up you two!" called a female voice from behind, saving Tomoe from having to endure long amounts of tickling. They both looked up to see another angel with light red wings and auburn hair landing next to them, her green eyes glittering happily at their antics. She wore a form fitting white sleeveless robe tied high up her waist. "Do I need to separate you two?" she said in a mock scolding tone, unable to hold back a smile.

"What's up Kiki?" Why'd you come all the way out here?" Tomoe asked, wondering why the council sent her.

"You're both wanted up at the temple. Gensai-sensei sent me to bring you up there." Kiki said in her perky way.

"Well, then let's go." Kenshin said, opening his wings with the others. As one, they jumped up and beat the air with their wings. As they flew higher, Kenshin did loops, flips, and other stunts in the air. He loved to fly. Soon they came to a large marble palace where the council met. Kiki led them in through the double doors and down the hall to the right. They stopped at the second door on the left and Kiki entered first, bowing as she did so.

"Gensai-sensei, members of the council, I brought Kenshin and Tomoe." She motioned for them to come in. She went to stand next to the table the council sat at, waiting for new instructions.

"Well, I'm going to get right to it. We have an assignment for both of you." Gensai-sensei said, looking at Kenshin and Tomoe's curious expressions. "On Earth. A young girl prayed for our help, and we thought you two would be the best for the job. The cards, Kiki." He said as she pulled two cards out of her pocket and handed one to Tomoe ad the other to Kenshin. They said their names, a series of addresses, and lots of other information in small text that had been packed onto the card.

"Those have all the information you'll need on Earth. Everything from your name, to your school, to 'things you should never do while among humans'. Now, since this is your first assignment, I'm going to run over some ground rules and some things you should know. First, Humans don't like things out of their reality, so that means no flying, no magic and no speaking about Heaven in public. Second, the assignment deals with an emotionally distraught girl, so don't tease her much. Third…good luck to both of you. Kiki, lead them on please."

She motioned for Kenshin and Tomoe to follow her, and she walked across the room to another door and had them enter first. It was just a big empty square room, save a table, a funny looking rack with hooks on it, and white elevator-like doors opposite them.

"This is where we send Angels to Earth." Kiki explained. "All you do is leave your tags on one of the hooks there and get in the doors. Then I flip the switch and you go to your rightful places on Earth." She said all this in what undoubtedly ment to be an official tone, but there was a hint of sadness that neither Kenshin nor Tomoe missed.

"Hey, it's okay. We're friends. We'll be back" Tomoe tried to comfort the other girl. Kiki shook her head.

"No, you're down there 'til the people you're looking after die. Then you all come back. So it could easily be five years before you get back. They were all silent for a minute until Kenshin reached down and took his chain that was hanging around his neck off.

Angels are all given tags when they come into Heaven. They have their name and a code that is used only for the times when they have to go down to Earth. They have to leave their tags, then they get them back when they return. That was how it worked.

"Five years. Without being able to fly freely? This'll be harder than I thought." He commented. Kiki coughed awkwardly.

"Well, you ought to get down there." Kenshin and Tomoe both set their tags next to each other's on the rack where several others were as well. Kiki opened the door and gave them her best smile. "I'll see ya when I see ya!" With that, the door shut and all was dark.

Slowly, light came back around them. So did sound, but it wasn't the quiet of Heaven. It was a busy street with people coming and going and talking loudly just outside the narrow alley they were standing in. Along with their surroundings, their clothing had also changed.

Kenshin was now wearing blue jeans with a belt around the waist, and a red shirt that had a silver dragon on it. He also wore black boots and a jean jacket.

Tomoe was clad in navy boot cut jeans, white tennis shoes, and a baby blue sweatshirt that read 'Angel'.

"Convenient." She stated when she saw that. However, they noticed that they both had one thing in common: no wings. Kenshin, setting that aside, looked at his card again.

"Okay, it says that…first off we need to go to the park across the street, start walking down the middle fork…and that's it." Tomoe looked put out.

"How are we suppose to know what to do with such vague directions?"

"Dunno. But…well, let's just go and see what happens." Kenshin said, setting off out the alleyway and on to the street, Tomoe right behind him.

Being first-time humans, they didn't understand traffic laws. Kenshin dashed across the road, Tomoe tailing him always. They weaved around on coming cars, causing several car horns to be blown and foul language shouted.

"Man, people on Earth sure are rude." Tomoe commented quietly once they reached the other side. Sure enough, there was a park, with three different paths.

"Well, directions say to go the middle one, so let's go." Kenshin started walking and Tomoe continued to follow, not wanting to be separated form him in a new and strange and violent world.

"Where do we go after this though?" Tomoe murmured, glancing around at all the things and people around them.

"I haven't the foggiest. Perhaps to the house address here?" Kenshin pointed to the particular line on the card. Tomoe was about to reply when two loud voices cut through the air suddenly.

"No, baka rooster! I told you I don't want to deal with that!"

"C'mon Missy, don't do this again! Mom and Dad just want t-"

"NO! No no no no!" A young girl with long raven hair in a high pony tail was stalking down the path to them, looking very distressed. A guy with spiky brown hair was following her, looking both frustrated and deflated, his red bandana trailing behind him. Kenshin and Tomoe exchanged glances. Is this the girl that they're supposed to help? They both looked down at the cards again, just in case there was some bit of information they happened to miss. That's when something heavy and warm crashed into him at high speed. Before he knew it, he was flat on his back with the upset girl on top of him, picking herself up and off him. When she looked at him, she began apologizing to him repeatedly.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry mister, I didn't see you, it was completely my fault! I'm so very sorry. Are you okay?" she offered her hand to him, and he took it, pulling him up to his feet.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you miss." Kenshin smiled happily, trying his best to comfort the girl. The brown haired guy came jogging up to them, looking worried.

"Are you okay kid? Sorry about Missy here." He said and Kenshin blinked twice. That was the first time anyone called him 'kid'.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. Are you okay?" he asked the girl. She looked a bit surprised y his question.

"Oh, yeah, um, I'm okay." A small silence fell briefly as the guy looked consideringly at Kenshin and Tomoe. Finally he broke the silence.

"Hey, what's your name kid? I haven't seen you before. You two new?" A look of concern crossed both angels' faces, but it was gone before anyone noticed.

"You could say that. Himura. Kenshin Himura." He recited the name that he was given as his cover. "And this is Tomoe."

"Yukishiro Tomoe. Yes we're new to the area, and we…were…just looking around." Kenshin shot a grateful look at Tomoe for saving him the trouble of coming up with a believable story. She was much better at that than he was.

"Oh. Well, would you like me to show you around?" the blue eyed girl asked them. Deciding that it would be best to one: find out where everything was, and two: to see if this girl was indeed the one they were sent to help.

"Sure. Thank you." Kenshin said politely.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. That was rude of me! I'm Kamiya Kaoru."

"Sagara Sanosuke. Call me Sano. I'm her half brother. My brother Akira's not here today. I'll have to introduce you to him sometime."

"Anyway, shall we show you around?" Kaoru smiled and began walking down the path the way they came.

Through out the course of two hours, they showed the two angels the small town and where all the main places were. By request of Sano's growling stomach, they finally stopped at a burger joint that Sano and Kaoru both insisted had the best hamburgers they'd ever taste.

"Four please." Kaoru told the waitress that greeted them at the door. Smiling happily, she let them to a table in the corner, laying out menus on the wooden table. Kaoru squealed happily. "This is the best place to sit! Yay!" Kaoru slid in first followed by Sano then Kenshin and Tomoe last. Picking up their menus, they examined all the choices that were new to them. Carefully, Kenshin pulled his card out of his pocket and looked at it behind the menu to prevent suspicion. So far, they'd gotten all the information right. They were going to the same high school, they were indeed supposed to be seventeen, and they found the street that the place they were staying at was on.

"So, are you guys boy and girlfriend?" Sano asked, startling both of them slightly. Kaoru slapped him lightly on the arm in punishment as if he were an infant.

"Uh, no. We're just friends. That's all." Kenshin said, stuffing his card into his pocket again.

"That was a rude question Sano." Kaoru scolded. Sanosuke just grinned.

"Well, they didn't seem to mind."

"Would you like anything to drink?" The waitress asked, returning with coasters and silver wear.

"I'll have a Pepsi please." Kaoru said, folding the menu.

"Pepsi too." Sano said from somewhere behind the menu. Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"I'll have the same." Kenshin smiled pleasantly, determined not to show his uncertainty, trying to figure out what this 'Pepsi' stuff was.

"Um…I'll have…"Tomoe hesitated, and Kenshin nudged her with his foot. Taking that as a sign, she pulled herself together. "Ditto." The ever-smiling waitress jotted down their order then walked off.

"So, what do you think of our cute little town?" Kaoru asked.

"Um, it's a very nice place indeed. Thank you for showing us around." Kenshin grinned.

"We told you we're going to school with you two right?" Tomoe questioned, not wanting to miss any detail. Kaoru nodded.

"Yeah. We'll show you around when you get there. Meet us by the big oak tree out in front."

"Akira'll be there too. So you can meet him too." Sano smirked.

"Alright." Tomoe said just as the waitress walked up holding a tray with four cups of a dark liquid.

"Four Pepsis." She said, setting one in front of each of them. "Would you like to order now?" the waitress asked, looking pointedly at Tomoe.

"Um, Can I have the 'Garden Burger' please?" she said and the waitress scribbled the order down, looking next at Kenshin.

"The…'Banzai Burger please."

"Double Bacon Cheeseburger." Was Sano's order.

"Just a traditional burger please." With that, the waitress moved away. Kenshin and Tomoe turned their attention to the Pepsis. Kaoru and Sano were already drinking theirs –Well, Kaoru drinking and Sano chugging-. The two angels took an experimental sip.

"Yum! This is really good!" Tomoe said happily, then realized her mistake.

"Well, what'd you think you were going to get?" Kaoru giggled.

"Um, well… it's…just…. that, s-sometimes the drinks are so watered down, they are flavorless." Tomoe recovered shakily. Kaoru looked questioningly at them, then, much to their relief, shrugged it off.

The rest of the evening proceeded in much the same fashion. Someone slipping then having to scramble and find a reasonable excuse to cover it. When the meal that seemed to last an eternity was over, Kenshin and Tomoe found the house they were suppose to be staying at, with the aid of the cards (which were their Holy Grail). They explored the charming one-story, and found it already furnished, stocked with food, and an envelope of money for them sitting on the counter.

"It must have taken a HUGE amount of magic to pull this off!" Kenshin exclaimed, walking into what he had claimed as his room.

"Oh yeah! An amount beyond anything I've ever seen!" Tomoe's voice came from somewhere in the hall. Kenshin flopped down on the bed, laying on his stomach.

"I'm surprised I lived through the day." He said as Tomoe entered the room. "A couple times I thought we were done for."

"Well, we were definitely lucky." Tomoe said, walking to the bedside. Because Kenshin was turned away from Tomoe, he didn't see her mischievous smirk as she hopped on the bed, sitting on his lower back with her legs hanging off either side of the twin bed.

"Tomoe…? What're you doing?" he asked curiously.

"Tell me Kenshin, are you still ticklish here?" she teased while running a finger experimentally over his shoulder blades. Tomoe was rewarded with a startled cry from Kenshin.

And so, as they ad done for seventeen years now, Tomoe and Kenshin laughed together…for different reasons of course. Tomoe was laughing at Kenshin's useless efforts to get up and away, and Kenshin was the helpless tickle victim. About twenty seconds later, there was a great rush of wind that neither expected as two large soft gray wings popped from Kenshin's back, and Tomoe, startled, backed up as her white wings made their appearance to shield her instinctively. Kenshin sat up, looking at her first, then at his wings that had reappeared.

"My wings…" he said, feeling them to be sure he wasn't imagining things. "They're back." Kenshin gave a small smile, which soon spread into an infectious grin. Kenshin looked at Tomoe who was feeling her wings in a similar fashion.

"But how? Why now?" she asked looking at him questioningly. Silence fell between the two angels briefly before Kenshin spoke.

"I wonder if it has to do with the face that we…our instincts took over kinda thing, you know."

"Yes," Tomoe said quietly, nodding. "That makes sense because I was startled and defenseless, and you wanted to get away."

"And I wanted you to stop," He mumbled quietly "So, I guess as long as we don't do anything to trigger and adrenaline rush of any kind, we can prevent anyone from finding us out. Cool."

"Why do I have a feeling it's a whole lot more complicated than that?" Tomoe asked no one in particular.

"…I don't know, but I hope it's not true. Other wise, there could be some sticky situations coming up."

"Yeah." Tomoe closed her eyes, took a deep breath and her wings withdrew into her back.

"Too bad we can't fly. I really want to." Kenshin sighed and pulled his wings back in too.

"I know. I do too…maybe we can find an open field in the middle of no where and fly there."

"That's a good idea." Kenshin perked up a bit. "I'll ask Kaoru sometime if she knows anywhere good."

"Oh, speaking of them, our schedules are here too. I found yours." She handed Kenshin a piece of paper with a list of four periods.

"What's yours look like?" Tomoe pulled hers out and they held them side by side.

"I've got… first with you...fitness. Nice. I always love that." Tomoe groaned sarcastically.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep then. The school's suppose to start tomorrow." Kenshin grinned. Tomoe smiled too, and walked to the door.

"Night Kenshin." She said just before she walked down the hall to her room.  
"See ya Tomoe!" Kenshin called after her, jumping into the bed. He turned off the light on the nightstand by the bed and laid there. After a moment he smirked and sat up. Kenshin concentrated, eyes closed and his wings sprouted from his back again. He stretched them to their full length (which was about fifteen feet), and they almost touched both sides of the small room. Kenshin sighed. Reluctantly, he pulled his wings back inside and took off his shirt. The moonlight filtering through the window revealed two large rips at the back. Kenshin tossed the ripped shirt in the general direction of his dresser, and plopped flat back on the bed. He was silent for a minute, contemplating all the events of the day, and what was coming up at them. "Perhaps things are a lot more complicated than I first thought. "

"Where are they?" Asked an impatient Sanosuke the next morning. His older brother Akira stood next to him, rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, Sano, we've got about fifteen minutes till school starts." Kaoru said, looking around. She caught sight of a classmate staring at her from across the lot. When she made eye contact with him, he looked away, as if he was never spying. Now it was Kaoru's turn to roll her eyes. Sano caught the eye roll.

"What is it? Is it that perverted stalker again!" Sano said angrily. Kaoru was about to answer when she spotted Kenshin and Tomoe walking up to them.

"Hey!" Kenshin said happily when they joined the siblings at the tree.

"What took you so long?" Sanosuke asked, intending to sound irritated but he couldn't help smirking.

"Sorry, we took a wrong turn and got lost." Tomoe said hurriedly, sounding like that wasn't the real reason. Kaoru looked at the two quizzically, then blinked, suddenly remembering her manners.

"Oh! Kenshin, Tomoe, this is Akira. He's Sano's older brother." She said, pointing to the dark haired dark eyed guy next to her. "Akira, this is Kenshin and Tomoe. They're new to the town, so I thought we'd show them around."

"Okay. What's your schedules?" Akira asked, getting down to business. Kenshin took his paper out of his pocket, and Tomoe unfolded hers.

"I've got Fitness, English on 'A' days, Drawing on 'B' days, and third and fourth Release." Kenshin recited from his slip of paper. Kaoru blinked.

"That's the same as my schedule!" she cried, peering at his paper to make sure it was true. "Wow…Tomoe, what do you have?"

"Fitness, Calculus, Release, Release."

"That's the same as mine." Akira stated, looking thoughtful.

"Crazy! Sano said disbelievingly. A series of loud and annoying beeps sounded and the three flinched. "Ten minutes. Better hurry," Kaoru began to walk to the doors, but stopped. "Wait! Kenshin, Go with Sanosuke and Akira. I don't know where the guy's locker rooms are. Tomoe, follow me." Like a commando, Kaoru directed everyone around with authority, and, ten minutes later, they were all standing around in the gym, clad in gym shorts, tennis shoes, and old T-shirts.

"I wonder what we're gonna do today? With any luck we'll be doing something easy instead of something like the mile." Kaoru said, searching the gym for something.

"Surprise!" cried a girl about Kaoru's age as she jumped on her back, dark braid swaying.

"Misao, get offa me!" Kaoru commanded, and Misao obeyed.

"Sorry. Who're the new faces?"

"I'm Himura Kenshin."

"Yukishiro Tomoe."

"Nice to meet ya!" Misao was cut short by the shout of the teachers. "Roll call." She groaned. All the students plodded over to the yelling teachers, calling out when their names were read. When that was finally done, the students waited to hear what torture they had to endure today.

"Today, you'll be playing Dodgeball." Shouted one teacher, receiving cheers from all the kids.

"Wow! The teachers are being nice!" Kaoru said with mock surprise.

"Nooo! Lock all the doors and windows! Apocalypse! Apocalypse! Head for the hills!" Misao cried, running around in circles in an overly dramatic manner.

"Makimachi! Team two!" a teacher shouted, and Misao stopped immediately and walked over reluctantly. Next a teacher screamed at Akira. "Team One!" And that was much the fashion that continued until everyone was on one side or the other. Misao and Kenshin were on team two, and everyone else in their circle of friends, including her idol, Shinomori Aoshi., were on team one.

"Oh shoot!" Misao cried suddenly as she surveyed the opposition. "Sanosuke's against us!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Kenshin asked and Misao looked at him like he was insane.

"Only a lot! Sano throws really hard and fast. It's pretty much forfeit to face him."

"I see. He doesn't take it easy on friends?"

"Not usually. He just gets in that mind set and he gets scary. Sano's come awfully close to breaking the wall several times." Just then, the teacher blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game. There was a mad dash of students to the middle line, where all the balls were located. So, the mad frenzy of Nerf balls flying back and forth began. And Sanosuke did indeed live up to Misao's story. Within about five minutes, everyone was out…except Kenshin.

"Himura! Get over here right now! Just sit this one out if you don't want to be in pain till next Christmas!" Misao shouted over to him from the wall with everyone else who was out.

"Nah. Don't worry Kenshin. I won't go too hard on you." Sano smirked. Kenshin shrugged, and Sano, taking that as a signal, threw a large Nerf ball at him. Kenshin easily dodged to the left, and Sano threw another one. Again, Kenshin dodged. For about another five minutes this continued. At first Sano had been hoping to tire Kenshin out by making him run all over, but when Kenshin wasn't slowing, let alone getting tired, Sanosuke began going all out.

"Hope you're ready buddy." Was all he said before he bombarded Kenshin with fast balls. Had they connected, the poor unfortunate victim would have more than a few broken ribs. Kenshin was a bit surprised at the speed of the throws, but managed to stay ahead of them. The kids on the sidelines were speechless as several missed shots crashed against the walls, leaving large craters. There was one that forced Kenshin to jump up, which that in itself was impressive enough (considering the face that he was about twenty feet off the ground). Sanosuke recovered from his momentary shock and decided to use that to his advantage. He threw a small ball at Kenshin as hard as he could, realizing he couldn't hold back if he wanted to beat him. At first it seemed as if Sano's plan had worked as a loud 'thump' sound echoed around the walls of the gym. But to everyone's amazement, the ball was clutched firmly in Kenshin's left hand. Like lightning, Kenshin spun in mid air and shoved the ball like one would thrust a sword forward.

"No way-" was all Sanosuke was able to get out before the ball impacted with the force of a wreaking ball. Luckily Sano was a tough guy and the most he got was the wind knocked out of him from a blow to the chest. Kenshin landed lightly next to him and held out a hand to Sano, who took it reluctantly.

"Boy, never would have thought you'd be so tough. You're so skinny and all." Sano commented.

"You did well to. It takes a lot to still be standing after a hit that hard." Kenshin smiled.

"HEY! You two, sit out!" shouted a teacher who was pointing at them. Kenshin gulped and Sanosuke huffed. "Now! I don't want any more damage!"

For the rest of the hour and a half class period, Kenshin and Sano sat on the bleachers and just chatted while the never-ending Dodgeball game continued. Without the key player, neither team could defeat their opponents.

"That's pretty sad. They can't get anywhere. Except Missy and Weasel." A Nerf ball was thrown at Sanosuke as he said that from a not very happy Misao shouting something about not calling her a weasel.

"Speaking of Kaoru," Kenshin said, seizing the opportunity to do a little digging. "Why was Kaoru looking distressed this morning?" Sanosuke looked at Kenshin surprisedly.

"You saw? How?"

"I've been told my eyesight's above normal?" Kenshin covered desperately. Unfortunately, Sano saw through it.

"You expect me to believe that? What's the real reason? You can't expect me to believe that you've got eyesight that would make a hawk blind in comparison."

"But…um…" Kenshin was at a loss for words. Good thing he didn't say anything about the fact that he heard what they were talking about too.

"Kenshin!" Called Tomoe's voice, causing both boys to look in her direction. "The teacher wants you!" she shouted, pointing over atone of the teachers. Kenshin mentally breathed a sigh of relief and shot an apologetic look at Sano, hoping to not raise too much suspicion. He walked over to the teacher, who seemed to be engrossed in something on his clipboard that he didn't notice Kenshin's approach.

"Excuse me, sir?" Kenshin asked politely and the teacher looked at him. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. About that jump you did earlier," he hesitated.

"Yes?" Kenshin said nervously, fearing the worst.

"I was wondering if you'd consider joining track." Kenshin resisted the temptation to fall Anime style, sweat-dropping at the real reason. "I think you'd be really good at it, if you continue to perform like you did here." He said, handing a packet to Kenshin. "Tryouts aren't for a while, so don't get too excited."

"Thank you Sir." Kenshin said just as the bell rang. He made a quick exit through the doors to the locker room and changed faster than he ever thought he could. All to avoid another confrontation with Sano. He found Kaoru waiting for him outside the door (which was surprising because it's suppose to be the girls who take longer).

"Ready to go Kenshin?" She said cheerily. He nodded, smiling. Thankful to distance himself from Sanosuke. Best to let him cool down a bit before they talk next.

Kaoru led him off to English, being an 'A' day, which passed without any mishaps. In Kenshin's opinion, he screwed up enough today that it'd be a miracle if Sano didn't just try to beat the truth out of him.

The rest of the week proceeded in a similar pattern, Sano seemed to have given up probing Kenshin for answers, while Kaoru and Kenshin had become really good friends. Tomoe had formed a strong bond with Sano and Akira, after finding out they had a lot in common. Also, they met Megumi, who was Sanosuke's girlfriend, Aoshi, who Misao wants to marry and is friends with Sano, and Yahiko, a freshman who looks up to Sanosuke.

Before the two angels knew it, Thursday arrived, making it almost Friday! And the day was almost done for them at second period classes. While Tomoe was hanging out with Akira in Calculus, Kenshin and Kaoru were in drawing class, working on their latest project.

"Why'd she have to give us an imaginary assignment? I can't do imaginary stuff real well. I'm much better at sketching things." Grumbled a girl at the desk next to Kaoru.

"It's not all that bad. I rather enjoy it." Kenshin said absently, pencil scraping across the paper rapidly.

"Can I see what you're doing?" Kaoru asked, trying to peek over the raised desks at his paper.

"Only if you show me yours too." He teased. Kenshin picked up his sheet and held it up for Kaoru to see.

"Wow! That's really good! Are those Angels?" Kaoru asked, pointing to two winged figures among the clouds. Kenshin nodded, and Kaoru went back to looking in awe at the Black and white charcoal drawing. "They look so real. Where did you learn to draw such realistic wings?"

"I use to see them every day."

"Really? Where?"

"Oh, um, where we use to live I'd sketch birds. Don't know why but I liked to." Kenshin laughed awkwardly as Kaoru raised a curios eyebrow at him. Then she just shrugged.

"Mine's just a sketch of an Elvin landscape." She said, lifting hers up for him.

"That's really beautiful. You really have a talent for drawing Kaoru." Kenshin smiled.

"Really?" Kaoru asked quietly, blushing.

"Yeah. It looks fantastic! Honestly."

"Thanks Kenshin." Kaoru said, happiness filling her voice. And something about the way she said his name made him feel…warm. Happy. A rush. Something that was foreign to him, but he liked it none the less.

After school, Kenshin and Kaoru joined everyone else by the big oak tree, which had become their standard meeting place.

"Hey there. What do you two have planned this afternoon?" Sano asked the two when they got there, fish bone sticking out of his mouth.

"No, why?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, me, Akira and Tomoe were thinking about a hike in the forest. It's a perfect day for one, and we're all finished with our homework, so we decided to hit the trails for a couple hours." He explained, then added with a mutter "Plus it'd be good to do that before the winter weather sets in too much." Kaoru nodded.

"Okay, so that leaves me and Kenshin. Huh. Well, are you open this afternoon Kenshin?"

"Yes. I have no schedule at all."

"Cool. When are you leaving on the hike?" Kaoru asked Sanosuke.

"'Bout four."

"M'kay. Would you like to come over to our house around four Kenshin?" Kaoru asked sweetly.

"Sure. Why not?" Kenshin grinned, unable to contain the new emotions.

"Well, let's get back to the house and get ready!" Sano cheered, waving to them as he walked off, Kaoru and Akira following behind. Kenshin and Tomoe looked at each other then began trekking down the sidewalk back to the house.

"So, you're going hiking today." Kenshin commented. Tomoe nodded, looking very happy.

"Yes, I really can't wait."

"But you've never even gone hiking."

"I know, but it sounds fun, and plus I need to create some 'human' hobbies as a cover."

"Good point."

They arrived at the house a few minutes later, very excited for their upcoming afternoon fun. Kenshin set his backpack in is room, and they both changed out of their uniforms into more suitable clothes. Tomoe had on boots and a jacket with scarf, ready to go tromp around the forest, while Kenshin just dressed casual with a light jacket. By the time they finished getting ready, it was ten to four.

"Hey, we need to go!" Kenshin said, heading to the front door, then hesitated, turning to Tomoe. "Do you have their address? 'Cause I sure don't"

"Yes. Akira gave it to me, so don't worry." Tomoe took a slip of paper out of her pocket, heading out the door. Kenshin followed her out, and they began walking to the address written down, and he couldn't help but feel as if this wouldn't be any ordinary time.

Kaoru, Akira &Sano's house—

Kaoru and Sanosuke stood by the door just before four. Akira was busy getting ready, and their parents were out, so the two were alone in the two-story entryway.

"I wonder what's up with those two?" Sano mused aloud. Kaoru looked at him curiously. "I mean, I think they're hiding something. Think about it." Kaoru was silent for a moment as she considered this.

"I guess…I don't know. Don't you think that's jumping to conclusions?"

"No. Kenshin's been avoiding me ever since gym on Monday…. Well, just see if you can find something out. There's gotta be an explanation, cuz that's not normal behavior." At that moment, Akira came waking down the stairs,

"Are they here yet?"

"No, but they should be any ti-" Kaoru was cut off by a rapid knocking on the door, signaling their arrival. Kaoru put on a smile and opened the door. Kenshin and Tomoe were standing there, smiling broadly. "Hello! Come on in!" she said enthusiastically, motioning for the two to enter.

"Hi. Are you ready?" Akira asked Tomoe who smiled gamely.

"Ready as ever!"

"Alright then. Let's go! Kaoru, Kenshin, have fun." Sanosuke smirked teasingly.

"See ya! Enjoy yourselves." Kaoru teased back. With a delirious wave, Sano herded Akira and Tomoe out into the garage. The sound of car doors slamming could be faintly heard on the other side of the wall as they left. When the sound of the engine faded away, Kenshin and Kaoru looked at each other.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Kenshin asked. Kaoru paused thoughtfully.

"Do you know How to play 'Speed'?"

"No."

"Really? Well, I'll teach ya. C'mon." Kaoru waved for him to follow and led him to a large room with a large table to fill the space.

"It's a very nice house you have here, Kaoru." Kenshin complimented. Kaoru shrugged as she picked up a box from the cabinet off to the left.

"My step dad works for a really important software company. But, he's always gone, so it's kinda disappointing." Kaoru picked a deck of cards out of the box and sat down on one side of the table.

"I'm sorry." Kenshin said quietly. Kaoru shrugged again.

"It's not so bad." She looked at him thoughtfully as he sat down opposite her. "What do your parents do?" Kenshin was caught off guard, but recovered.

"My Mom died when I was three, and my Dad's working as a farmer." He said, using what was true before he became an Angel.

"I see. Sorry about your Mom."

"Well, like you said, it's not so bad. Can't do anything about the past, so I've learned to live with it." Kaoru nodded and dealt out the deck.

"Okay, moving away from sober topics, I'll show you how to play 'Speed'. First, this is your deck," she pointed to the small pile in font of him. "You take five cards from there, and that's your hand. You can only play one card higher or lower than the card on these piles here," Kaoru pointed to two face-down cards Kenshin supposed would be the piles. "And if neither of us can play, then we flip a card from here at the same time." Kaoru pointed to two piles of five on either side of the playing field. "Always make sure you've got five cards in your hand. Okay?"

"Alright." Kenshin smirked, picking up five cards from his pile.

"Okay. We'll go slow till you get the hang of it. 'Kay. On three, we'll flip these cards over, and begin. One, two, three!" and the furious rhythm of hands, frantic scrambling to beat one another and moving of cards began. So, Kenshin and Kaoru lost themselves in one game after another, never tiring. Occasionally they'd trade taunts or tease each other if one tried to call a truce. Perhaps, subconsciously, they wanted to stay close to each other, and so they kept playing. But whatever the reason, approximately forty-eight games later, Kaoru looked at the clock on the wall.

"Holy crud! We've been playing for almost an hour! Break time!" she declared. Kenshin nodded in agreement. They went over to the couch in the other room and flopped down, sitting side by side. They just sat there for several minutes, enjoying the pensive silence and the closeness of one another.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru broke the silence.

"Yes?" he asked, looking at her questioningly.

"…never mind." She said, blushing and turning away. Kenshin scooted closer.

"Are you sure? You seem to want to say something."

"It's nothing. Forget it." Kaoru said firmly, but Kenshin caught a hint of regret, and…pleading?

"You can tell me. I'm a friend." He said quietly, gently. Kaoru sighed.

"Only a friend?" was her faint reply. Kenshin looked a bit surprised, but not unhappy.

"Um…I" he stuttered, trying to find the right words. Was she talking about love? If so, did he feel love? Is that this new feeling that's been growing whenever he was near her?

"What do you feel about me Kenshin?" she asked, finally facing him.

"Well, if you mean that I feel a kind of connection to you, yes."

"I feel a connection too. Only I…"

"Feel it's more than a simple matter of friendship?" Kenshin ventured, and unknowingly voicing his own feelings.

"Yes. Do you too?" she asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

"I…" but he didn't get to finish, for Kaoru had placed two slim fingers over his lips, halting his speech. Both of them operating on the same thought, the same feeling, and their lips met in the pure kiss of true love. Kenshin began to pull away, not sure of whether or not to keep going, but Kaoru captured his lips again, not wanting to part just yet. Unconsciously, Kenshin and Kaoru both smiled and knew all was good.

Kenshin pulled Kaoru closer, making the kiss more passionate. Kaoru felt adrenaline pumping through her system a million times a minute, caused by the deep kiss the two shared. Kaoru loved the feeling of his lips on hers; smooth, perfect, heck, everything about him was perfect. Wanting to be closer to him, she ran her fingers up his back, lightly brushing against him.

Kenshin felt her fingers trace up his back, causing his lips to part. He felt himself shiver slightly from the caress Kaoru gave him, almost fighting to restrain his more passionate side; the one that had laid dormant for his years as an Angel. However, that urge was stopped when he felt her reach his shoulder blades, he chuckled, trying to restrain the laughter that wanted out.

"What's so funny Kenshin?" Kaoru asked looking at him quizzically. Pulling himself together, he replied.

"Sorry, I'm just very ticklish there." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew it was a mistake. Kaoru smiled mischievously.

"Oh you are?" she asked, smile spreading to a grin. Kenshin gulped.

"No, don't-" before he could say anymore, Kaoru was on him, fingers moving with merciless tickles over his upper back.

"You're ticklish in the funniest places Kenshin!" Kaoru giggled, thinking this was just harmless fun.

"St-stop. Kao-K-Kaoru!" Kenshin choked out, trying to fight her off. 'Dangit! I can't hold out much longer!' he thought. In a desperate attempt, he decided that he'd throw Kaoru off, and back away to a safe distance. However, that would have been impossible to tell just from looking because he was still in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Kaoru was giggling happily, thinking she'd stop soon but wanted to tease him a little longer.

"Shoot" Kenshin muttered while chuckling. Kaoru opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but she flew against the wall at the sudden emergence of the large gray wings from Kenshin's back, ripping through his shirt. Kaoru's first thought was that she must have hit her head, or passed out while they were kissing, or something because this simply wasn't possible. Kenshin sat up and grinned at her sheepishly, folding his wings behind him. A severely awkward silence fell between them as Kenshin tried desperately to find the right words for the situation, and Kaoru fought to comprehend what she'd just seen.

"Ke…Kenshin?" she sputtered, finding her voice. Kenshin smiled nervously, like a child busted by a parent doing something naughty. "Are…are you…an angel?" she had no clue if she was right, but it was the only thing her frozen mind could come up with. When Kenshin nodded, Kaoru felt her heart rate skyrocket. "Di-did you come to help me?" Kenshin nodded again. "Wow. You always hear about this on TV shows of fantasy videos, but real life…Wow…how long have you been on Earth? I don't recall ever seeing you before."

"When you first met us, we had only been down here for a few minutes." Right then, Kenshin wanted to hit himself really hard for making two _really_ stupid mistakes in one night.

"'Us'?" Kaoru asked. Kenshin gulped again. "You mean Tomoe's an Angel too?" Kenshin nodded stiffly. "Crazy!" Kaoru looked at the big wings folded behind Kenshin. She blushed lightly as she walked back to the couch and sat next to Kenshin, feeling a bit silly about her next question. "Are they soft?"

"Yes." Kenshin said, extending a wing to her. When she looked hesitantly at him, he smiled reassuringly. "Go ahead." Tentatively, Kaoru reached out and gently touched the feathers.

"They're so soft. Like silk." She said with quiet awe that made the Angel smile. A silence fell again, but this time it was a peaceful one with Kaoru stroking the feathers and Kenshin looking at her happily. "How long are you going to be here? Are you going to leave after you're done?"

"No Kaoru. I am here to watch over you for the rest of your life. So for about five more years probably."

"What! Only FIVE?" Kaoru cried, looking startled. Kenshin looked apologetic.

"Oops. Sorry. I forgot to tell you about the time difference. You see, one year for us, equals about twenty and a half human years. No need to worry."

"Oh, good. For a second there I thought you were saying I was going to die at twenty two." Kaoru literally blew a sigh of relief, then she blinked surprisedly. "Wait a minute. When you said you were seventeen, were you talking your years or mine?"

"Ours."

"That'd mean…" Kaoru calculated out the equation silently in her head. "You're over three hundred and forty!" she looked at him in disbelief while he nodded calmly, as if it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Kaoru blinked. "O…Okay." Just as she said that, the sound of a car engine came from the garage just on the other side of the wall form them. Kenshin and Kaoru exchanged brief panicked looks before Kenshin whipped back over to the table and snagged his jacket. Pulling his wings back in again, Kenshin pulled the jacket on to cover the two nice large holes in his shirt from his wing's sudden appearance. Almost too early, the door flew open, and in marched Sano, big silly grin on his face and traditional fishbone sticking out his mouth.

"Hey Jou-chan! We're back. You have a nice time with Kenshin?"

"Uh, Yep!" Kaoru smiled, stiffly at first, but managed to pull off a convincing smile despite the awkwardness of the situation. Sanosuke didn't seem to notice. Akira and Tomoe walked in behind him, carrying a slightly uncomfortable air with them.

"Well, I'm glad you had a great ti-" Sano stopped short, staring bug eyed at something on the floor. 'HOLY COW!" he shouted, causing everyone to flinch slightly and follow his line of sight. Kenshin and Kaoru froze. There was a single gray feather lying on the ground about a foot away from Kenshin. But it couldn't be passed off as a bird's, being about eighteen inches in length. "WHAT FREAKIN' BIRD DID THAT COME FROM!" Sanosuke shouted again, somehow retaining his fishbone. An extremely awkward and tense silence loomed over them, and Tomoe and Kenshin exchange a nervous glance, knowing fully well where the large feather came from. And in that one glance, they knew what had happened with both of them.

"Could you excuse us for a minute please?" Kenshin said, doing his best to plaster a believable relaxed smile on his face. He motioned for Tomoe to follow, and they walked into the room across the hall, closing the door behind them. "They found you out." Kenshin said, no point in asking.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but Sano scared me when he jumped out from behind a tree. Luckily we were off the path and no one else saw."

"Did you say anything about me?"

"Yes. That too. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Really."

"Does Kaoru know…about both of us?"

"Yes. I accidentally slipped about my being ticklish and Kaoru couldn't resist." They shared a nervous laugh.

"Well, do we just tell them? Cuz they all know, but they don't know if Kaoru knows and vise versa."

"Yes. I think that's best. Anyway, they're trustworthy kids." Kenshin smiled reassuringly and opened the door back up, walking back to find the atmosphere almost unbearably strained. Kaoru was fiddling with the feather, Sano was watching Kaoru, and Akira was staring unseeingly at a spot on the wall by the door. Kenshin cleared his throat.

"Well…it seems you all know our secret. Right? So I'll just say that it's vital you keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone, _anyone_ else."

"Uh, are we all talking about the same thing?" Sano asked. Everyone looked questioningly at him. "You know…" he made flapping motions with his arms. Kaoru shot an anxious glance at Kenshin who nodded at Sanosuke's question. As if on cue, Kenshin and Tomoe both took off their jackets that were hiding the ripped shirts. With a rush of wind, they let their wings open up, Tomoe's flashing brilliant white, and Kenshin's a soft gray. Their audience of three was silent.

"Uh…wow…" Sano said, breaking the silence. "So that's what's you were hiding."

"Tomoe told us about that, but it is _way_ different seeing it." Akira spoke, being a bit stunned.

"Yes, shocking, but it's gotta stay in our circle. No one else can know. If someone found out, and spread the word…well, I don't know what would happen, but it wouldn't be good." Kenshin said firmly, folding his wings.

"Don't worry Kenshin. You're secret's safe with us. " Kaoru smiled.

"Thank you everyone." Tomoe sounded relieved. Kenshin looked out the window opposite them, frowning.

"What's wrong Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.

"I think there's someone out there. I can feel someone peering in here." He said darkly, pulling his wings safely back inside and walking to the window, Sanosuke following with a death glare.

When they looked, there was no one there, but Kenshin was sure he saw a dark figure moving away from the house, and he knew that it didn't bode well for him-any of them at all.

Kenshin got out of the car, stepping onto the bright grass of the hill. Actually, cliff was more like it. They were quite a ways up, and it was about an hour out of the way, making it the perfect spot to hang out with out being discovered. Courtesy Kaoru for sowing it to them. Tomoe stepped out and looked around them.

"Wow! You can see so far! I never would have guessed this was here." Tomoe said happily, gazing out at the land stretching out ahead of them.

"Exactly why this is perfect." Kenshin looked down the side of the slope. A straight drop of about a hundred feet, then to rocks, and on to the dense forest. "Yep. This is a good drop Tomoe." He said, walking back a ways. Tomoe joined him, and they charged forward, towards the ledge. Kaoru, Sanosuke and Akira first were shocked, but than began calling after them.

"Kenshin! Tomoe!" Kaoru cried after him.

"You idiots! What the blazes are you doing?" Sano shouted

"Tomoe! Don't jump! Don't jump!" Akira had his hands cupped around his mouth, trying to get them to stop. All the two running Angels did was look at each other and smile. They'd see soon enough. With Tomoe doing a tuck-and-roll, and Kenshin doing a corkscrew, they jumped off the edge, resulting in cries of surprise of terror and the three running to the edge. They saw the two Angels open their wings, as they were plummeting, halting their fall and bringing them upward to the sky. Kaoru watched in awe as she watched Kenshin and Tomoe flip, loop, and dive so easily with those glorious wings of theirs. They felt momentary panic when Kenshin pulled his wings against his body, and went straight into a nosedive, pulling his wings out as he was just feet off the ground. He swooped up the side of the cliff and fluttered beside them, looking like a kid at Christmas.

"Thank you so much for showing us this place! Wow! It feels really good to fly again!" With that brief comment, Kenshin ran back to the edge and took off. As she watched, Kaoru couldn't help a small sadness well up inside her, looking at how they had so much freedom with those wings.

Suddenly, Kenshin's ears picked up a different sound, and he stopped to identify it. Tomoe flew up beside him, looking questioningly at him.

"What're y-"

"Shh! Listen," Kenshin cut her off. "Do you hear wings?" Tomoe closed her eyes and listened out.

"Yes. And they're approaching fast." She replied. Kaoru, Akira and Sanosuke were close enough that they could hear the Angel's conversation, and wondered what was coming. A large bird perhaps?

"Kenshin! Tomoe! There you are!" called a familiar female voice. Tomoe smiled as she looked over Kenshin's shoulder, causing Kenshin to turn around. There, flying towards them was a pale red winged Angel. Everyone who wasn't an Angel was clueless.

"Kiki?" Kenshin asked as the Angel stopped beside them. The auburn haired girl smiled brightly and nodded happily.

"What're you doing here? Why aren't you up helping the council?" Tomoe asked perplexedly.

"Can't you tell?" Kiki asked, twirling around in the air, showing her clothing. She had on jean overalls, red sneakers and what appeared to be a black and red swimsuit top. "It surprised me too when Gensai-sensei told me I had to go. He just told me to find you two and go from there." She explained, then her eyes bugged out when she was Sano, Kaoru and Akira watching them nearby. "Great Scott! Discovered already! No!"

"Um, it's okay Kiki. They already knew about us." Kenshin said, trying to calm her down.

"They've been sworn to secrecy. You're fine," Tomoe reassured. "Why don't you come meet them?"

"Sure." The three Angels landed softly next to the other three, Kiki looking a bit timid.

"Kaoru, Akira, Sano, this is Kiki. Kiki, meet, Kamiya Kaoru, Kiyosato Akira, and Sagara Sanosuke."

"Nice to meet you all. You must be great people for Kenshin and Tomoe to trust you with this big of a secret! Awesome!" Kiki said enthusiastically.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too Kiki." Kaoru smiled.

"By the way, what were you all exactly doing all the way out here?" Kiki asked, full of questions.

"Kenshin an' Tomoe wanted to fly." Sano said simply.

"I'm a bit jealous." Kaoru stated, putting on a mock pout.

"We can change that, can't we?" Kenshin said with a smirk shared with the other two Angels.

"Huh?" Sanosuke muttered. "But, I thought Angels were suppose to be nice!" he burst out. For a minute they all looked at Sano as if he were some random alien that crashed landed from Jupiter.

"Oh!" Kenshin said, getting what his friend was thinking. "No, we weren't talking about killing you."

"Really? That's pretty dense of you Rooster." Kaoru said dully, swatting him upside the head.

"We ment," Tomoe emphasized. "That we could take you up there." The siblings looked at them disbelievingly.

"Seriously. Don't worry, you'll be able to stand on the clouds." Kiki said in a carefree tone.

"Oh, wow. That's awesome." Akira said, sounding both excited and amazed. The three Angels turned to one another, figuring out who should go with whom.

"I think I should take Kaoru because I'm not use to carrying a lot," Tomoe turned to Kaoru. "No offence." She said apologetically.

"None taken."

"Kiki, you take Sano since you're use to heavier loads." Kenshin directed and Sano looked slightly put out. "I'm just saying that you've got a lot of muscle mass. Chill." Kenshin reassured him. "I'll take Akira." With that, everyone paired off and the siblings rode piggyback, seeing as it was easiest to carry them that way. They ran off the edge (with a bit of difficulty) and beat the air with their wings rapidly, gaining height, just barely brushing the treetops. Sano cursed loudly at that part and Kaoru let out a frightened squeal. Akira just tensed up slightly. After that, they flew nearly straight up, the clouds becoming larger and larger.

"Which one looks good?" Kiki called to the other two over the wind rushing past them.

"The one over there. Slightly to the left." Kenshin said, putting on speed and leading them to the appropriate cloud. Once they safely landed, everyone stood, looking out at everything.

"Holy crud we're up high!" Sano stated, looking down at the small blue spot that was their car.

"So, this is what you got to see every day?" Akira asked Tomoe. She shook her head.

"Not quite. Heaven's much higher up than this."

"Wow. What's it like up there? Cold I imagine."

"Actually, it's quite decent. And when you look down, there's just mostly a lot of green ad blue blurs." Tomoe recalled. Akira looked a bit sad to hear that.

"That's kind of a shame. There's a lot of beautiful things here." Tomoe looked at him lovingly.

"I realize that." She said softly, whispering into his ear. She pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. They just gazed at each other. If three others and a minor pervert didn't surround them, they'd have created a nice love scene. But the wish to do so was in each of their eyes, and they both knew it.

While the two lovebirds did their thing, Kenshin and Kaoru gazed out at the vast green landscape that seemed to go on to infinity, meeting the sky and melding together.

"This is so peaceful up here. I guess this is why Angels are so nice is because they've got peace." Kaoru ventured, looking at Kenshin who shrugged.

"Perhaps. I don't really know. But I do know that it's even more beautiful when the sun sets." Kenshin commented, hinting slightly. Kaoru caught the subtlety in his words.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes shining brightly. "Can you take me up here sometime at sunset?"

"Of course." He said sweetly. Kaoru wrapped her arms around his waist and he pulled her in a semi-embrace. Kiki, while pretending to not pay attention, listened intently as the two pairs talked sweet talk with each other. She smirked, thinking that if they don't get their acts together she'd have to play matchmaker for them. She glanced over at Sanosuke, who seemed to be thinking the same thing she was. Check that. There'll be two matchmakers on the scene.

Next day—

Kiki had stayed with Kenshin and Tomoe in their house, sleeping on the futon in the living room. It was decided that they'd have to play around with the furniture settings later to accommodate everyone. But now, on a Monday, they sat at the small, round table in the kitchen, having breakfast and waiting for the time to leave for school.

"So, have you two figured out what you're suppose to do yet?" Kiki asked, stirring her hot chocolate with her spoon.

"Not yet." Tomoe said.

"I think I've got an idea as to one thing." Kenshin said, causing the two girls to look at him curiously. "About seven days ago, I heard Sanosuke saying something about someone stalking Kaoru. And, judging by the way that he said it, it sounds like it's not something new. Like it's been going on for a while. But, I'm also wondering if he knows about us. 'Cause, remember Thursday night?" Kenshin asked Tomoe. "I said there was someone looking in the window. And there was someone running off when we looked out there."

"Could it have just been a passer-by?" Tomoe questioned. Kenshin shook his head.

"No. I don't think a passer-by would be running through their yard at night."

"Hmm…Maybe that's what Gensai-sensei ment." Kiki murmured. Kenshin and Tomoe looked questioningly at her. "Just before I left, I heard him saying something about an 'unexpected turn of bad luck'. I don't know what he ment by that, but he could have been referring to this." The room was silent in thought and reverie as everyone mulled over this new information.

"Well, either way, we should all be careful. If we're revealed…" Kiki trailed off. Kenshin ad Tomoe nodded in mute agreement at the unspoken words. Tomoe glanced at the digital readout on the clock.

"We'd better go." With that, everybody gathered their things and walked out the door, heading off to school.

As it turned out, Kiki's schedule matched Misao's, so the two hyper girls spent the day together. And, since the gumi all had release the last two periods, they decided to hang out that after noon, except Kenshin ad Kaoru. All Kenshin had said was that he had something special planned for Kaoru. So while Kaoru met with one of her teachers briefly, Kenshin waited by the oak tree outside, thinking about later. 'Today's going to be the perfect day. Partly cloudy, mild temperature, and it's almost winter.' Kenshin's smile quickly fell when he saw a really unhappy looking guy stalking towards him. The guy had short dark brown hair and steel colored eyes that revealed only rage.

"Hey you redhead." He snarled. Kenshin looked at him questioningly.

"Yes? Do you need something?" 'Well, isn't that a bright question.' He thought.

"You stay away from Kaoru. She's mine." Cold-eyes growled menacingly. 'Hmm. Could this be the stalker?' Kenshin wondered, but knew the answer even before the questioned was formed.

"Excuse me? Do you have any right to make her decisions? She never said anything about a boyfriend." Obviously, this wasn't what the guy was looking for, as he grabbed Kenshin by the collar and shoved him against the thick tree. The Angel retained him calm expression.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you." The infuriated stalker lowered his voice to a whisper and brought his sneering face right in front of Kenshin's. "I know what you are." At that, Kenshin's eyes widened. So he did know.

"Know I'm…what?" Kenshin acted clueless, blinking his eyes.

"Don't play stupid with me. I saw you. I saw you and that other girl have wings. Don't deny it."

"Where would you get an idea like that?" Kenshin decided to continue to defy him. "Do you see any wings here?" he pointed to his back, as if the guy was insane. The stalker let go of him and Kenshin straightened his collar out.

"Play dumb all you want, but I won't let you have Kaoru." He spat and Kenshin continued to look at him with a clueless expression. Eventually he stormed off, leaving Kenshin to narrow his eyes and glare at his retreating figure.

"Hey!" Kaoru's voice broke through his thoughts and Kenshin looked at her, smiling warmly and hiding his thoughts. "What's up? I called you several times!"

"Sorry Kaoru. I was just…thinking."

"About what?"

"About the fact that we have to get going!" he grinned, grabbing a smiling Kaoru's wrist and they set off together, both grinning ear to ear.

Two hours later—

Kenshin and Kaoru came strolling out of a forest, laughing lightly. They were taking a walk on the unbeaten path, and making casual chatter. Which included Kaoru asking periodically what they were doing and receiving a silent grin from the red head.

On the other side of the forest was the clearing where they had flown just the day before. Only this time the sun was hanging low in the sky, setting pinks and golds to the western horizon. Kaoru's eyes brightened as she rushed to the edge of the cliff and gazed out at the horizon.

"Wow! The sky's so beautiful! Is this what you wanted to show me?" then something clicked n her head. "Or are we going up further today?" She asked hopefully turning to face Kenshin, who had allowed his wings to reveal themselves.

"Gee, how'd you guess?" He asked jokingly with a grin. Kaoru ran over to him and hugged him tightly. Kenshin picked her up and holding her bridal style, he ran off the edge. Kaoru squealed with excitement at the rush of falling while Kenshin just smiled. He beat his wings and they instantly went skyward. Kaoru glanced down at the ground that was speedily being left behind, and felt a wave of ecstasy wash over her. 'So this is what freedom feels like!'

Kenshin continued to look straight ahead, looking for the perfect place to land. He broke through the clouds hovering over them, revealing a clear sky, save a few cirrus clouds. Kaoru gasped in delight. The eastern horizon was already taking on an indigo tone, while the west was ablaze with warm colors. Below, the green landscape was dotted with gold highlights. It looked like the kind of thing one would see in only their dreams or an oil painting.

"Oh Kenshin, this is perfect! I never thought I'd ever see something like this without being in an airplane! This is so awesome! Thank you for showing this to me Kenshin!" Kaoru squeezed him tightly, and he hugged her back gently.

"Of course. I'm glad I can share this with you." He whispered to her. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with happiness and love. Not bothering with words, she leaned into him, eyes closed and Kenshin responded. They shared a deep, long and lingering kiss together among the clouds. 'Eve though I'm not an Angel, I know this is exactly what Heaven feels like.' Kaoru thought as they broke the kiss and looked at each other. Still silently, they sat down on the soft cloud and watched as the sun sank below the horizon and the warmth faded form the sky to be replaced with nighttime's coolness.

"Well, I suppose we should get back down now." Kenshin said reluctantly.

"Yeah. Before everyone wonders where we are," Kaoru smiled. Kenshin smiled back and picked her up again, leaping off the cloud and back down to Earth. The flight down was much quicker than going up, courtesy of gravity, and Kenshin landed lightly on the grassy spot they had left. He let Kaoru go and they stood up together. "Thank you for the wonderful time Kenshin. "

"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kenshin smiled happily at Kaoru, who returned his look with a small, glowing smile. Suddenly, Kenshin leaned down and captured Kaoru's lips in a passionate kiss. She practically melted into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing back. Kaoru loved the feeling of electricity that ran through her when their lips met, loved the way he kissed, and how he knew just the way to make her go weak in the knees. She wished this moment could last for all eternity, frozen, preserved from Time's funny tricks.

But it didn't.

There was a loud moving of bushes from the forest next to them as someone stepped out into the clearing.


End file.
